Why are you afraid of a shark attack, a child reduction or a death in a plane crash? Why are you so willing to believe that the same person who can't even accurately predict tomorrow's weather may come from a detailed picture of future climate events? Have you stopped to realize that so many near-hysterical "popular" fears that you once panicked - like mad cow disease, acid rain, dangerous silicone breast implants, road anger, SARS or bird flu fears - miraculously only Disappeared a bit replaced by others who are now or will soon disappear in the same mysterious way? Why are you so scared? In short, this is because of your caveman brain.
Consider: Psychological testing has proven that you have a brain, and somehow think that the shape of a soft candy like a dog is indeed a shit. You have a brain that will use the first available number to suggest something that is completely unrelated to that number. You have a brain that concludes that careful prediction of the future is more likely than simple. You have a brain that concludes that things that are easier to recall are more likely to happen again. And, most importantly, your brain is often subject to intrigues by self-interested parties and fears of businessmen who are harmful to you.
Daniel Gardner explains in his book from
Fear science from
When it comes to evolutionary psychology, I try to portray the development of the human brain by equating human development in the past 2 million years with a book on 201 pages. Two hundred pages will cover the entire time of our species as a nomadic hunter in the Paleolithic era. The last page will introduce our time in the agricultural society, which began around 12,000 years ago [the first settlement only appeared about 4,600 years ago]. The last few paragraphs of the last page will cover the last two centuries of the world we live in today. We are cavemen.
Look around you now. In her strange and complex world, how can a cave woman be at a lower but decisive level in her brain? Her head was designed to roam the prairie, not to deal with most of her bombs here. This is why her intuition is still the reason for leading decision-making power. This is the power that distorts our perception of the world around us. The intestinal instinct responds quickly and lives in the lightning-fast time we do, the head can't keep up, or it can't pass. That's why we now live in a country full of worries in a society that is obsessed with risk. Our minds try to tell us that it is not important that we live in an era that is safer and healthier than previous generations. Our instincts prevent this and only fix the opposite that it sees in the evening news. It is in an anxious expectation, because the next fear is persistence, whether it is real or imagined. Needless to say, Gut never has to wait for a long time.
There are many complex psychological mechanisms in the ongoing conflict between Gut and Head. The three that can be picked here are:
Usability heuristic . If you can easily recalculate examples of something, then Gut tells us that it must be common. If cruel murder occurs in City X, Gut convinces you that you are also very high, because you can easily recall this. After all, you "see" it on TV. Head is trying to tell you that your chances of being in danger are minimal. And memory is biased; more recently, the more emotional and vivid events, the more likely they are to be remembered, so according to Gut, it is more likely to happen.
Confirm bias . Once fear is in place, we will screen what we see and hear in a biased way to ensure that our fears are "proven". The intestines do not wish to be confused by reasonable arguments or to conversely guarantee statistical data. The intestinal number is not good. It likes a good story.
Group polarization . When people who share fear gather together, they are more convinced that their fears are correct and their views become more extreme. Once fear becomes mainstream, it can be said that the distortion of what is horrible and should not be overcome. We are social animals, others think it is important to us. That's why we don't need to believe in the reasons for risk and the question "everyone knows" is correct. We don't want them.
From this perspective, when we believe that through reasonable calculations to assess evidence and make risk decisions, we will deceive ourselves. Experts believe that they can simply alleviate risk concerns by understanding the facts, which is wrong. The intestines don't listen to reason. We will see that experts cannot be trusted.
We overestimated the possibility of being killed by the news reported in the evening, and underestimated those who did not publish the evening paper. The diseases associated with smoking or obesity are much more numerous than those caused by catastrophic events, accidents, terrorism and murder. Gut saw this on television again [or in other media], became addicted to stories related to them, and indirectly contributed to the feedback loop that later became fear. Once we understand that our Gut is easy to interpret when Gut is in control while the head is in sleep. The head can't eliminate the intuition. It can't change our feelings. Our feelings are an important part of the calculation here: fear of sales. Intuitive feeling to buy.
Is there any insidious or conspiracy to sell fear? not really. After all, self-interest is the natural state of mankind. The journalism industry and new media do not hide their desire to make money, nor do they need them. It doesn't stop there. For companies, consultants, politicians, bureaucrats, scientists, activists and NGOs, fear is also an excellent marketing tool, all of which compete with each other for fear and sales. For example, for companies selling cleaning products or alarm systems, it is standard practice to increase your awareness of the risks associated with not using their products. What politicians did not seize the opportunity to exaggerate the dangers of reality or imagination, but the problems that his political opponents failed to solve? Law enforcement and security officials are naturally not good at taking risks by reducing your security risks. Scientists also need funds, no problems, no funds. Non-governmental organizations and other groups have a political agenda. If this helps them achieve their goals, will they hesitate to spread fear?
What can Head do to help alleviate our perception of this tilt? Really not much. Many of the problems we face today are so complex that we personally cannot understand them correctly. Since we don't have enough time or energy to study them ourselves, we must rely on experts to do this for us. These experts are usually biased and are likely to belong to one of the above groups. We tend to be as biased as experts. Curiously, showing fear of a particular problem has become a form of expressing cultural identity or issuing political statements. What I find interesting is that peeping into the future and imagining possible problems has become a living room game for intellectuals. Sadly, another problem is that the question that "everyone knows it is true" requires the hard work and stamina that many of us don't have.
Then why are you so scared? Your caveman's brain won't have any other way. Too bad, too many inner cave explorers' risk-aware buttons were oppressed by others.
Orignal From: Your caveman brain
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